Toddler Gift Idea - Hand Painted Wooden Toys

I was looking for some Montessori inspired wooden toys on Etsy but knew I could probably make some myself for cheaper. I love to make toys for Baby J, so when I saw some of the same wooden people and bowling ball pins that were unfinished at my local craft store, I decided to give it a go!

They were pretty quick to make and I'm impressed with how they turned out!

I used Crayola watercolors to paint them, which I probably wouldn't do again because the paint ended up coming off on my hands even after they were dry. I would choose a higher quality watercolor the next time. I did a quick search on how to fix the color bleeding problem and found that a remedy was to soak them in vinegar. It did work pretty well but it faded the color a lot. The above pictures are after they were soaked.

After I was satisfied with my paint job and had soaked it in the vinegar, I finished it with a natural finish of homemade beeswax and olive oil. I used this tutorial to make it and it turned out well!
If you aren't into making your own, you can buy some great ones at Under the Green Umbrella. All of their toys are handmade and finished with non toxic finishes. They make some great little wooden toys that I would loooove to have someday!

Under the Green Umbrella Peg People Bus

Gift Idea - Yarn Wreath

This is an easy, meaningful, yet inexpensive gift that you can customize for people according to their house colors, the season, or their favorite colors.

Supplies:
Straw or foam wreath
Yarn
Hot glue gun
Felt

First, hot glue the yarn to the wreath to start with and then start wrapping. When you have it wrapped all the way around, hot glue it on the back side.
This is a great tutorial on how to make the felt flowers. I do a couple of different sizes and colors to make things interesting.

I have yet to make one of these for myself but I really want one! I hope you enjoy making this. The people I have given it to have really liked them!

DIY Felt Letter Magnets

It's time for another toddler gift idea - felt letter magnets!

I took on this felt letter project when I saw how much Baby J loves to use magnets at other people's houses. I was concerned about the typical plastic letters when I saw how small they were and how easily the magnets fall out of the plastic part. I know that serious harm can be done to a child that swallows a magnet, especially two of them at once.  So I got online, did a search, and found this tutorial over at hellobee. It was really simple to follow but in true crafty mama style, I made a couple of changes to fit my liking. First, I bought a letter template set instead of printing and cutting them out. It made things faster and I really like how the letter shapes look. I paid around $4 for these.

My second change to the tutorial was, I decided not to stuff them. It was taking a long time - a REALLY long time - to sew and stuff these, but I didn't mind. I knew this was something my son would enjoy. But I kept having problems with them falling off of the refrigerator. The stuffing was displacing the magnets, causing many of them to sit crooked inside and not make full contact with the fridge. I was so disappointed that it wasn't working, so I decided to sew one without stuffing and it stayed on much better, and it was a lot faster to sew too!

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that much faster. This project took me a few weeks to complete, working almost every night after Baby J went to bed. You could probably finish it faster if you also have some time during the day, but I reserve crafts for the evening, so it took a while. I have never been so glad to finish anything in my life!

That being said, I enjoyed the process and know that i will enjoy watching J play with these. He already loves spelling things, asks us to spell certain words like "Mama", "Pop Pop", and "Dada", and thinks every letter is either an "A", "O", or "E". It is so funny! (He is 18 months old now, by the way.) It's nice knowing that he will be safe playing with these by himself.

Handmade Wooden Blocks

Daddy J has been wanting to make some wooden blocks for Baby J "just like he had when he was little". He decided Christmas would be a great time to make and give them to him. I think they turned out wonderful, so I thought I would share.

They took him  few hours to make, but one could shave off a lot of time by buying pre-planed lumber such as a 2X4. Daddy J planed and cut these blocks from a cherry tree that used to be in his grandparent's front yard. That makes them very special to him and we hope Baby J will have a lot of fun with them!

Nibble Tray

I saw a mom post one of these in my online mom's group and it took me a few months to get around to trying the idea, but I wish I had tried it sooner. I don't have any problems getting Baby J to eat healthy foods, but I do have a problem remembering to give him snacks throughout the day. Before I know it, the time between lunch and dinner has passed and he hasn't had any food. I figured this would be a great solution for us. All I have to do is take maybe ten minutes in the morning to cut up some fruits and veggies, fill up the tray, and put them out for him to graze on all day.

The idea comes from Dr. Sears' "The Baby Book". This is what he says about the toddler snack tray:
          "A child's demeanor often parallels her eating patterns. Parents often notice that a 
          toddler's behavior deteriorates toward the end of the morning or the mid-afternoon. Notice 
          the connection? Behavior is worst when going longest without food. Grazing minimizes 
          blood sugar swings and lessens the resulting undesirable behavior." (p. 255)

But won't they eat ALL day? From my experience, Baby J takes some food and then runs off to play (unless he is watching TV, then he will graze a little longer throughout the episode of Sesame Street).

Won't they get fat? I guess that depends on what type of food you are filling his tray with. Giving your child unlimited access to Cheese Doodles, Bread, M&M's, and Fruit Snacks would probably make them gain weight. Filling the tray with nutritious, raw, and homemade foods will have a much different effect.

How will they know when to stop? I will answer this with a couple of quotes on the topic from Alfie Kohn's book "Unconditional Parenting":
          "...even without our intervention, young children will usually consume the amount of 
          calories their bodies need over time." (p. 58)

          "Two nutritionits in Illinois conducted a fascinating experiment a few years ago. They 
          observed 77 children between the ages of two and four, and also learned how much their 
          parents attempted to control their eating habits. They discovered that those parents who 
          insisted that their children eat only during mealtimes (rather than when they were hungry), 
          or who encouraged them to clean their plates (even when they obviously weren't hungry), 
          or who used food (especially desserts) as a reward wound up with children who lost the 
          ability to regulate their caloric intake"  (p. 58-59)

The typical tray that I would give Baby J would consist mostly of fresh foods (apples, mangoes, carrots, red peppers, blueberries (his favorite!), etc. with some cheerios, or crackers). This is what his tray looks like today:

From left to right he has: semi-sweet chocolate chips (I let him have one sweet thing in there, but I don't fill that compartment completely. To my surprise, he doesn't eat the chocolate before all of the others. He takes a few and then grazes on the other things. I will soon be making homemade carob chips that will be replacing the chocolate.), veggie chips, cheerios, red bell pepper, carrots, cucumbers, and homemade cheese crackers.

Do you have a nibble tray for your little one? I would love to hear what you put in it!

You know you're a crunchy mom when...

I was having an online conversation with a crunchy mom's group the other day and the topic of discussion was: You know you're a crunchy mom when...

Some of the things that were mentioned were so true and a little funny. I thought I would share a few. Maybe you know someone like this or maybe it is you!

You know you're a crunchy mom when:

1. When the majority of your conversations at your parents' or in-laws' house starts with "I don't let him do/eat that".

2. If a response to a when-question, you answer... "well, when the baby decides to."

3. When most of your grocery shopping has to happen between 7 & 11:00 am on Saturday because that's when your farmer is at the market.

4. When you do a lot more laundry but have a lot less trash.

5. When "put some breastmilk on it" is the first thing out of your mouth if someone has an illness or gets hurt.

6. When coconut oil is your: furniture polish, eye makeup remover, diaper rash cream, cooking oil, lip balm, nipple cream, and skin ointment.

7. When you try to wash diapers while Hubby is working so he doesn't find out just how many rinses you really do.

8. When you can't remember the last time you had sex in your own bed.

9. When you feel the need to state a disclaimer whenever you meet new mommy friends, like "You should probably know, we are a little weird..."

10. When you tell your message board friends about the CDs you have for stripping and not one person thinks you mean a soundtrack to a sexy dance for your husband.

Do you have anything to add to the list? I would love to hear!

Crafty Crunchy Christmas: Christmas Tree Light Box

Since it is the season, I thought I would do a few posts about gift ideas and/or Christmas activities you can do with your little one's and families.

This week we got a new stove, so we have a pretty large box sitting around. Baby J didn't seem too interested in it and that's when I remembered an activity that I saw on Play at Home Mom called "Cave of Stars". I figured it would be perfect for him (and a cheap activity, as well!).

All you need for this activity is:
large cardboard box
string of Christmas lights (or two, depending on how much light you want!)
power strip (if you decide you want your little one to be able to turn it on and off himself)
some sort of sharp object to poke holes (i used a pointy knive)

Pop holes through the top of the box and put the lights through. Really simple!

We did make a few changes to the original activity to make it more suitable for Baby J and also our safety preferences. First, we taped a power strip to the the back of the box so that just the "on/off" switch was peeking through a small hole (that was already there when we received the box!). That way Baby J can turn the lights on and off but won't stick his finger in the socket. He is really interested in light switches, so this was a real hit!

Second, we made the box taller by cutting off the bottom and taping it to the sides. To make it sturdy, we hot glued two by fours where the seams are. The reason we made it so tall is because we don't want him touching the lights. There have been recent studies on Christmas lights that show they contain high levels of lead. Most sources only address the lead in the PVC wire insulation, however I have also seen warnings about touching the bulbs themselves. We did start out with it lower, but he couldn't keep his hands off the bulbs, so we just raised it.

We hope you have fun with this activity and a thank you to Play at Home Mom for the great idea!

Have you done any fun activities with cardbord boxes? I would love to hear!